South Hills High School

  I am truly inspired after attending the inaugural induction of the first class of athletes/coaches into the South Hills High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025. While the school is now 61 years old as of this entry (established in 1964), it is certainly fitting they bestow honor upon some of the Huskies’ best. The inductees were introduced and ushered out to mid field during half time of the season opening football game. While at the event, I reminisced with my former athletic director about our time together at South Hills. They were the most fun days of my life and they provided the most memorable and rewarding moment of my life.

The Back Story

My dream job became a reality in late August of 1966 when I was hired as a physical education teacher and gymnastics coach at SHHS. I had just completed a Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in Kinesiology and was excited to come to So Cal rather than return to Philadelphia. Philly was and still is home to me, but in order to teach at a high school and become a varsity gymnastics coach—that would have required a number of years in the Philadelphia Public School System and a lot of politics. No thank you! While my parents were unhappy with my decision to venture further west (Jewish mother and Italian father), I was ecstatic.

Teaching/coaching is a calling and at age 24, I had the dream job I sought. For the first time in my young life, there was a regular income, the California lifestyle and the local ‘night league.’ On a mid February morning, I greeted my first period class at 8:05 AM on the outdoor blacktop. I was teaching a six week basketball unit. The sky was crystal clear…UCLA 1960’s blue…the temperature in the mid fifties…Mt. Baldy was snow capped and looked as though you could reach out and touch it. I was wearing my green spandex coaching shorts along with a staff golf shirt and our green wind breakers. As class was about to begin, I quietly but enthusiastically said to myself, “and they’re paying me for this.” I knew this was where I belonged.

Administration

Over these many years, I have fond memories of SH faculty, administration and staff and their extraordinary commitment to students. The administration was led by Joe Deal, the principal, who was a decorated WWII marine and had been promoted to Colonel while in the field. He set the agenda and created the positive culture at South Hills which endured way past his tenure. Mr. Deal was an ideal boss and I just couldn’t address him as Joe until he requested such. He led by example. As newbies, we were encouraged to run our classes and practices as we saw fit provided we remained consistent with district policies. On occasion, we were pulled in before mistakes might become unfixable. His timing was perfect. He hired faculty and staff who shared his vision of what it might take to be the best academically, athletically, artistically, creatively and socially. Everyone walked the line for Joe…not because you had to… you wanted to. This was leadership at its best.

At the risk of getting a bit philosophical, “we as individuals are the result of our cumulative experiences as well as those who influence us.” When I concluded my doctoral studies, I dedicated my dissertation to Joe Deal and three special mentors at SHHS along with others. They are: Dick Harris – my Department Chair and Athletic Director, Joe Payne – Dean of Boys and Vince VanDetta – ASB Director and later Athletic Director after Dr.Harris. These guys were the best. They understood that balance between work, family and play. I was under their wings and for that I am ever grateful.

My Tenure

My stay at South Hills lasted six years. I reluctantly resigned to join the faculty and coaching staff at Cal State LA.in the summer of ’72. It was a difficult decision to leave that which I loved…the students, the faculty/staff, the Physical Education Department and my gymnastics team(s). We accomplished a lot in a relatively short period of time. I was promoted to Department Chair during my second year and over next two years we became a State of California Physical Education Demonstration Center. Other school department chairs from around the state came to visit regularly. We were a young department…mostly in our twenties. There was Herb Barnes, Jim Bastion, Jack Nemzeck, Jim Egan, Remey Tremblay, Ken Cassidy and a few others who filled in on occasion. These guys were dedicated teachers/coaches and very skilled.

Gymnastics ’66-‘67

This was my first team. It was led by co-captains Chick Wagner and Tad Williams…two talented athletes who were serious about training and provided great leadership. The CIF competed in eight gymnastics events at that time. The CIF (governing body regulating high school sports in CA) still had gymnastics competing in eight events while all others competed in the Olympic six. In addition to Free Exercise, Pommel Horse, Horizontal Bar, Vaulting, Parallel Bars and Rings, we were required to add Tumbling and Rope Climb. As a collegiate gymnast, I was a one event specialist (rings) and didn’t know all that much about my own event let alone seven others. My thinking about this situation was…we’ll compensate by training twice as hard and often as our competitors. This resulted in ‘us’ becoming students of our sport as well as buying into the program. We became better as our inaugural season progressed. So much so, that we enjoyed a 10-1 season and a Valley League Conference Championship with six athletes named to the All Conference Team with four conference champions. I was in awe of the skill those kids developed.

’67-‘68

Now that we had a season under our belt and enjoyed some success, a lot of kids came out for gymnastics. I never cut anyone for lack of ability, but did cut several each season for breaking team/school rules or not maintaining academic standards. This team was a bit different…more competitive, better skilled and it produced our first full scholarship athlete. Don Elshire.

He is now a prominent physician, but received a full scholarship to USC and became a Pac 8 All Conference ringman. We trained twice per day…once at school and once in the evenings at our local community college, Mt. SAC. This team went 11-1 and finished second in the new Montview League Conference behind Baldwin Park High School which was noted as the unofficial ‘best high school gymnastics program in the country.’ We lost to them in our dual meet and I never enjoyed getting our asses kicked more. While we stayed right with them through the first four events, the back four were way too much. It was a great lesson for us. With that, we had five gymnasts named to the All Conference team with two conference Champions. We never lost to them again.

’68-‘69

This was my favorite team to date. It boasted a number of scholarship athletes who went to elite gymnastics programs. This was our first undefeated team at 12-0 with a Montview League Championship. It was lead by co-Captains Steve Rubrecht (UCLA) and John Roskey (US Air Force Academy). Among these truly gifted guys was Jim Bzovy who was wild man and a really fun kid on Horizontal Bar. He had no fear. There was Steve Jones, a Tumbler/Free Exercise competitor, Danny Scarbrough, Tony Pedicini (Parallel Bars and Vaulting), We were now cookin’… ranked in the top Ten in CA.

‘69-‘70

This too was a very good team who completed a 12-1 season with another Conference Championship, but with a loss to a non-conference team, Pasadena High School. To this day I am still angry about that loss. Two judges (CIF required two as opposed to four) did not know the rules and their scores were way off base…particularly in vaulting which was the first event. The judging went downhill from there. After calling for judges’ conferences multiple times during that meet, my complaints regarding their lack of judging knowledge and rules were apparent.

I do not believe they were “fixing” the outcome. They were just incompetent. We were the better team. Frustrated beyond reason, I did the unthinkable by attempting to pull my team off the floor. Enter my captain, Chris Klingerman…a gifted pommel horse competitor who pulled me aside and advised against leaving the floor. It was his cool head that prevailed. Had we left, the meet would have been forfeited and I would have been fired. I’ve often said, “it is great kids that create good coaches.” Chris is one of those, and he taught me a meaningful lesson that day. After graduation, Chris accepted a gymnastics scholarship at CSULA offered by Gordon Maddux, the coach at that time. The upshot of this saga has some irony. I became Chris’s coach again at CSULA two years later upon Gordon Maddux taking a job alongside of Jim McKay at ABC’s Wide World of Sports as the color commentator for both men’s and women’s gymnastics.

‘70-‘71

This too was an undefeated team with an 12-0 dual meet record and another conference championship. We were the second ranked team in the CIF below Lakewood High School. They were really good…well coached and seasoned. We sort of knew it would come down to three or four teams who would vie for the crown…a CIF Championship. We had new uniforms, newer and better equipment, great support and a loyal following…and I was becoming a better coach. We had the best ring team in the CIF with Mark Lundy (Cal), Richard Johns (UCLA) and Mike Moser (UCLA). Our kids were being recruited to some of the “bigs” across the country. We did not perform up to our potential the night of the finals. Lundy was injured and could not compete and our pommel horse team just ate it.

We finished third. Upon leaving the gym, my guys were walking to the bus with heads down like they were looking for change. Once on the bus, I congratulated my guys on a great season. I then asked the bus driver to exit for a short time, then delivered a brief speech which set the tone for our next season. I asked, “do you want to be the congratulatOR or the congratulatEE a year from now, ‘cause we’ll be pre-season ranked number two again and Lakewood will be ranked number one? I’ll know your answer by your actions. We will work harder, longer and smarter than those guys. We will take a break for a two or three weeks until school is out for summer. Come mid June, we will train twice per day all summer…one session at South Hills where you may enroll in a summer session physical education class devoted to gymnastics, and one at Mt. Sac in the evening through a recreation program. I recognize that summer is for fun so I am asking that you participate in at least one session all summer. I’ll be at both. We’ll know who wants to be a champion.” The upshot is everyone attended both… five days per week all summer until school started again in the fall. These juniors, sophomores and freshmen wanted to win…and so did I.

’71-‘72

We went through our season without much challenge in that we were 12-0 again with another conference championship. Our guys were all in. We made it to the CIF Finals again competing against three teams one of which was Lakewood who enjoyed the number one rank again. Both teams were great! We were now competing in the Olympic six events and our starters were as follows:

• 

  SHHS-1972-SoCal-Champions

  FREE EX:

  • John Bernal, Sophomore
  • Jim Greffly, Junior
  • Dennis Pierce, Senior
• POMMEL HORSE:
  • Duane Wheeler, Senior
  • Steve Matsuo, Senior
  • Deon Carrico, Senior, Co-Captain
• RINGS:
  • Steve Speakman, Junior
  • John Prows, Sophomore
  • Steve Wiesman, Senior and Co-Captain
• VAULTING:
  • John Coppola, Senior
  • Steve Speakman, Junior
  • Deon Carrico, Senior
• PARALLEL BARS:
  • Steve Speakman, Junior
  • Doug Olbrich, Sophomore
  • Deon Carrico, Senior
• HORIZONTAL BAR:
  • Bill Slover, Junior
  • Steve Wiesman, Senior
  • Tommy Dietrich, Senior

We executed 18 routines without a single break, mistake or a failed dismount (they were not all perfect ‘’Sticks”). Lakewood matched us routine for routine…they were amazing until their best pommel horse athlete fell off and took a 5/10ths deduction (half point). We won that meet by 7/10ths of one point. The scorer’s table checked and rechecked the final score multiple times before announcing the final score. Dr. Carrico (Deon’s dad) was keeping score in the stands and he gave me a thumbs up while the official score was being calculated. It was exhausting, exalting and everything else that goes along with winning a championship. We went on a week later to beat the LA City Champions as well (Venice High school).

In Conclusion

I was 29 years old at that time and it set the tone for the rest of my life (now 83 in 2025). Lessons we gleaned from this experience were and are invaluable. Our gym was a laboratory where we learned about commitment, goal setting, perseverance, discipline and how to win with grace and lose with dignity. This six year journey probably doesn’t mean much to anyone else, but it was and is meaningful to all who were part of SHHS gymnastics.

We all have that special moment in our lives that is transformative. While I have enjoyed many successes in my long life regarding family, friendships, business…my experience at SHHS was the seminal event that drove me toward those successes. It was indeed a privilege and honor to coach those kids during my tenure.. Over these past decades I‘ve remained in touch with many and I know we made significant contributions to their successes as well. When they look back, I sincerely hope their reflections bring great joy. It certainly has for me.